Introduction
editThe Eastern gray squirrel Wikipedia page was created in 2003, and, for about 3 years, there were inconsistencies throughout the page with which spelling ("gray" or "grey") to use. The edit war began to pick up in 2006 when Wikipedia users started to debate the spelling on the talk page. The traditional U.S. spelling is “gray”, while “grey” is more popular in Europe, Canada, and Australia.
This spelling issue is not just relevant on this page. With cultural influences, the “gray vs. grey” debate is common throughout news articles and scientific literature.
The Edit War
editThe true beginnings of the edit war started with Stephen Lea (User:Seglea), a psychology professor from Exeter, England, commenting on the constant changing of spelling. In his opinion, the article should use the “gray” spelling because the species originates in mainly the U.S. and should therefore stick with the U.S. spelling. The one exception, he said, would be the section referring specifically to Europe, in which the “grey” spelling should be used.
Users initially responded by saying both spellings should continue to be used throughout the article. One user cited the number of Google hits for each spelling (1.15 million for “Eastern gray squirrel” and 1.22 million for “Eastern grey squirrel”) as a reason to keep both spellings since there are relatively similar numbers of pages for both the American and European spelling. However, some British and Canadian users lashed back, saying that “grey” is a traditional spelling in their countries and that “gray” looks as strange to them as “grey” does to Americans.
The next big move in the debate came when the issue of consistency came into play. User:Harry R was the first to bring it up, stating that it is much simpler to just have one spelling and that the article seems odd when the spelling changes throughout. Another user, User:Jabberwock359, argued back, saying that U.S. editors need to consider if they would be satisfied with an article with a section titled “aluminium industry in America.” This user claims that U.S. users wouldn’t accept that and therefore should leave the section about the squirrel in Europe with the “grey” spelling.
This part of the debate gets quick and choppy. One user will claim the article needs consistency and uniformity and change all the spellings to “gray”. Then another will come in and change the Europe section spelling back to “grey”.
The switching continued until User:Jabberwock359 came back with sources. He stated that the consistency is definitely important, but there are exceptions according to the Wikipedia:Manual of Style. For example, the title of the article should stay “Eastern gray squirrel” as the species originates in the United States. However, at that time, the caption to a picture in the article that was taken in London, England referred to the species using the “gray” spelling. This didn’t make sense considering only American visitors to England would refer to the species using that spelling. He concludes his argument by stating that the original photographer of that picture used the “grey” spelling, the local terminology.
In an interesting turn, User:Jackhynes, a British natural history filmmaker, cited the Template:MSW3, the British mammal reference text and showed that the species was referred to as the “Eastern Gray Squirrel” in that publication. Therefore, he claimed, that is the spelling that should be used throughout the article. Several users disagreed with the use of that publication, saying that it wasn’t a valid source because it has American influences and also lacks consistency.
A user claiming to have a “classical English education” tried to end the debate by claiming that “grey” and “gray” have been used interchangeably for some time in the UK. The user stated that it was also his understanding that both spellings have started being used in the United States. He concludes that “Eastern gray” is “more correct” because it is the classic American spelling and the species originates there. However, both spellings are technically acceptable in both countries.
The debate calmed down for a number of years, but was revisited again in 2010. The claims were essentially the same, with users citing the MSW3 and discussing the consistency issue further. However, no significant new assertions were made.
Conclusions
editCurrently, Wikipedia users have agreed to keep the title of the page “Eastern gray squirrel.” There was never much debate on this fact, as the norm is to have the spelling of the title consistent with the country of origination. The opening statement acknowledges both spellings, saying, “The eastern gray squirrel or grey squirrel (depending on region) is…”
In the “Etymology” section, the final sentence tells readers that the squirrel is referred to as “grey” in the United Kingdom and Canada. However, in the other sections mentioning the squirrel in those regions still use the “gray” spelling.
The only other “grey” spellings in the article are interestingly in the reference section. Many European and Canadian sources were used, in which “grey” is a common theme, but that didn’t translate into the article itself. It seems as though consistency is key.